Envelope



Dec. 26, 1967 c. P. GREASON 3,360,184

ENVELOPE Filed Dec. 13, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ml INVENTOR BY Wa'fiig 974142 ORNEYS Dec. 26, 1967 c. P. GREASON 3,360,134

ENVELOPE Filed Dec. 13, 1966 I 4 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BY 9ZM/Z 1 aw ATT RNEYS United States Patent 3,360,184 ENVELOPE Craig P. Greason, Berry Hill Road, Syosset, N.Y. 11791 Filed Dec. 13, 1966, Ser. No. 601,465 9 Claims. (Cl. 229--73) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A return envelope consisting of successive fan-like folded portions, the first and second portion being laterally sealed by means of gummed ears folded therebetween to form an envelope pocket, said second portion being provided with lateral cut-offs to expose the gummed area of said ears for securing the third portion, said first portion having an address display window and a first sealing flap adapted to cover said third portion during first mailing, said third portion being provided with a weakened tear line and inner gummed area forming the second sealing flap applied during second mailing.

The present invention relates generally to envelopes, and more particularly to a two-way or return envelope.

In most commercial activities, bills, invoices or orders are sent to customers through the mails. Mail is often the sole means of communication between the parties involved in a commercial transaction.

When sending out advertisements of goods for sale, or for subscriptions to magazines or the like, a company frequently sends a separate written envelope in which an enclosed order may be forwarded by the customer to the company together with the payment for the order.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a universal envelope adapted for two-way communication.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a two way envelope containing a detach-able order blank therein and providing space for additional advertising.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a twoway envelope which despite its dual nature permitseasy transmittal each way by the post oflice.

In one embodiment of the invention, there is provided in a two-Way envelope a first and a second pocket portion which when folded together along a predetermined folding line provide a pocket of the envelope, the first of such pocket portions being adapted to carry the address material during the first mailing of .the envelope, While the second pocket portion is adapted to carry the return address material during the return trip of the envelope, a third portion which includes a sealing flap portion separated from a printed matter carrying portion by means of a weakened tear line, such as by perforations, the printed matter carrying portion serving for advertising or for orders on its both sides, and a second larger sealing flap which is adapted to fold over the printed matter carrying portion when the envelope is in its folded form to seal the envelope during its first mailing, the second sealing flap. portion being connected to the first pocket portion by means of a weakened tear line, such as by perforations, and is to be detachable upon receipt by the first addressee.

In another embodiment of the invention, there is provided in a two-way envelope a first and a second pocket portion which when folded together along a predetermined folding line provide a pocket of the envelope, the first of such pocket portions being adapted to carry the address material during the first mailing of the envelope, while the second pocket portion is adapted to carry the return address material during the return trip of the envelope, a third portion connected to said second pocket portion by means of a weakened tear line and adapted to carry printed matter such as advertisement or order forms on both sides thereof, and a sealing flap connected to said first pocket portion and comprising a first sealing flap portion and a second sealing flap portion separated from each other by means of a weakened tear line.

In accordance with one aspect of the two-way envelope of the invention, a display window may be provided in the lower left half of the first pocket portion and matched with the enclosed standardized mailing particulars so that the name and the address appearing thereon may be seen through the display window which, in certain applications, may be desirable to be sealed by a transparent material in a known manner.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, a display window may be provided on the second portion for reasons explained above, this time showing the name and address of the person appearing on the order coupon.

The invention will become more readily apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the envelope in accordance with the invention, in an unfolded state;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the envelope in accordance with the invention as received by the first addressee, with parts broken away for illustrative purposes;

FIG. 2A is a cross sectional view of the envelope of FIG. 2 taken along line 2- 2 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the envelope in accordance with the invention as received by the second addressee, with portions broken away;

FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of the envelope of FIG. 3 taken along line 33 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a two-way envelope in accordance with the invention.

With reference to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, it is seen that the two-way envelope 10 includes a first pocket portion 11 on both sides of which sea-ling cars 20 are provided in a conventional manner and carry on the outer surface gummed areas 20a for sealing the second pocket portion 12 of the envelope to the first pocket portion as hereinafter described. The first pocket portion 11 in a preferred embodiment of the invention contains a display window 26 which may be sealed by a transparent material (not shown) in some applications for allowing viewing of the name and address of the addressee as they might appear on the enclosed advertising material or bills placed into the pocket portion. The first pocket portion 11 is adapted to carry the name and address of the addressee on the first mailing trip of the envelope as well as the written address of the sender in pocket with the first pocket portion and be sealed thereto through sealing ears 20 in such a manner that the gummed area's 20a seal the second pocket portion 12 within the envelope pocket. The second pocket portion 12 contains cutout portions 19 on each side thereof to expose gummed areas 20a of sealing ears 20 and to allow connection with other parts of the envelope hereinafter described.

The second pocket portion 12 is adapted to carry a written address to which the envelope should be returned by the first addressee. Another embodiment of the invention (not shown in the drawings) may provide also a display window also in the second pocket portion 12 which is, preferably mirror image of the display window 26 across the folding line 28 which circumstance might enable the use of less expensive manufacturing methods in making the envelope since the return address might be printed on the order form hereinafter described.

To pocket portion 12, an order blank 13 is integrally connected through a fol-ding line 18. The order blank 13 includes a sealing flap portion 14 carrying a gummed area such as a gummed strip 17, and is separated from the actual order blank portion which carries the printed matter such as advertising or an order form 15 through a weakened tear line, such as perforations 16. As appears from FIG. 1, the gummed strip 17 is disposed on the side opposite to the side shown in FIG. 1 for the purpose hereinafter described in connection with FIGS. 2A and 3A. The printed matter carrying portion 15 may take the form of an order blank on one side and carry additional advertising on the other side, or any combination of both of these.

First pocket portion 11 has a large sealing flap 2.1 integrally formed therewith and which is folda'ble along a weakened tear line such as perforations 25. The last mentioned sealing flap 2 1 carries gummed areas 22 which appear on the side opposite to the one viewed in FIG. 1 and which in a preferred embodiment of the invention are in the form of separated gummed spots for easy opening, but it is within the scope of the invention to provide a gummed strip.

The large sealing flap 21 has at least one edge thereof formed with a talper 23 for easy opening by present day automatic mail opening devices.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 2A which show the envelope in accordance with the invention as it is received by the first addressee, the large sealing flap 21 serves for sealing of the envelope on its first trip by means of the gurnmed areas 2Q which in the folded position of the envelope engage the order blank below the gummed strip 17 without interfering with the latter, Whereas the order blank 15 is held down by the gummed areas a appear ing through cut-out portions 19. An insert 30, such as a bill or advertisement, is within the pocket of the envelope.

With reference to FIGS. 3 and 3A showing the twoway envelope after having been received and the large sealing flap 21 having been removed along the perforations 25 and the order blank 15 having been filled out and separated from the sealing flap portion 14 along the perforated line 16 and placed into the pocket portion of the envelope as seen in FIG. 3A, and wherein the sealing flap portion 14 with its gummed strip 17 appearing in FIG. 3A becomes the sealing means of the envelope during its return trip.-

With reference to FIG. 4 in which like parts are designated by similar reference characters as in FIG. 1, it is seen that sealing flap 21 consists of a first sealing portion and a second sealing portion 36 separated by means of a weakened tear line, such as by perforations 37. The first sealing portion is connected to first pocket portion 11. The second sealing flap portion 36 is sealed to order blank 15 on the first mailing trip by gurnmed areas 22 during which the re-seal gummed strip 17 remains unwetted.

During the return trip, the order blank 15 is inserted into the envelope pocket as described in connection with FIGS. 1-3A, the second sealing flap portion 36 is removed and the first sealing flap portion 35 is sealed to second pocket portion 12 by means of gummed area 17.

Although the invention has 'been described with respect to specific embodiments thereof, it is not intended that the invention should be limited to such specific embodiments alone, but it should be interpreted in the light and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A two-way envelope comprising a first sealing flap, a first pocket portion integral with said first sealing flap along a first fold line and adapted to carry the first mailing address, a second pocket portion integral with said first pocket portion along a second fold line and adapted to carry the return mailing address, sealing ears laterally integral with said first pocket portion along lateral fold lines and carrying gummed areas on the outer surface to seal from the inside said first and second portion into an envelope pocket, a third portion integral with said second pocket portion along a third fold line and adapted to cover said return address during first mailing, said second pocket portion having lateral cut-01f portions to expose gummed areas of said lateral sealing ears in engagement with said third portion.

2. The envelope as claimed in claim 1, wherein said third portion comprises a second sealing flap portion carrying a gummed area thereon and a printed matter carrying portion, a weakened tear line separating said second sealing flap portion from said printed matter carrying portion, said second sealing flap portion engaging said first pocket portion on the return mailing of said envelope.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 2, wherein said first sealing flap is substantially larger than said second sealing flap portion, said first sealing flap carrying gummed areas for engaging said printed matter carrying portion during first mailing of said envelope.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 3, wherein said first pocket portion comprises a display window.

5. The combination as claimed in claim 3, wherein said second pocket portion comprises a display window.

6. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sealing flap is separated by means of a weakened tear line into a first sealing flap portion and a second sealing fiap portion, said first sealing flap portion being integral with said first pocket portion and adapted to engage said second pocket portion on the return trip of said envelope.

7. The combination as claimed in claim 6, wherein portions of said second pocket portion are cut away to expose gummed areas underneath for securing said printed matter carrying portion thereto when the lastmentioned portion is folded over said second pocket portion.

8. The combination as claimed in claim 7, wherein said first pocket portion comprises a display window.

9. The combination as claimed in claim 8, wherein said second pocket portion comprises a display window.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,091,172 3/1914 Thayer 229--73 2,673,680 3/1954 Deutschmeister et al. 229-73 2,681,175 6/1954 David 22973 2,964,233 12/ 1960 McFarland 229-73 3,197,121 7/ 1965 Hayes 229--73 DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Primary Examiner. 

1. A TWO-WAY ENVELOPE COMPRISING A FIRST SEALING FLAP, A FIRST POCKET PORTION INTEGRAL WITH SAID FIRST SEALING FLAP ALONG A FIRST FOLD LINE AND ADAPTED TO CARRY THE FIRST MAILING ADDRESS, A SECOND POCKET PORTION INTEGRAL WITH SAID FIRST POCKET PORTION ALONG A SECOND FOLD LINE AND ADAPTED TO CARRY THE RETURN MAILING ADDRESS, SEALING EARS LATERALLY INTEGRAL WITH SAID FIRST POCKET PORTION ALONG LATERAL FOLD LINES AND CARRYING GUMMED AREAS ON THE OUTER SURFACE TO SEAL FROM THE INSIDE SAID FIRST AND SECOND PORTION INTO AN ENVELOPE POCKET, A THIRD PORTION INTEGRAL WITH SAID SECOND 